Conor Benn: Boxing’s star fighter on his upcoming bout vs Ryan Garcia, opens up on the scariest moment of his life, dark mental health struggles, the effects of suspension, legacy of his family name, Dana White support and finding identity beyond boxing

“The hardest fight is life, another man doesn’t scare me.” Conor Benn In a powerful and eye-opening conversation, the guys sit with Conor Benn for one of his most honest and vulnerable conversations yet. The son of British boxing legend Nigel Benn, Conor grew up carrying a family name that came with enormous expectations. But behind the undefeated record, the spotlight, and the pressure to live up to his father’s legacy was a young man fighting battles that had nothing to do with boxing. In an emotional and vulnerable moment, Conor opens up about his journey through suspension, the scrutiny and isolation that followed, and reaching a point where the weight of everything became so overwhelming that he contemplated taking his own life. He shares what brought him back from that place, how he began to find himself beyond boxing, and the people and experiences that ultimately helped save his life. He shares how there is no such thing as fear and that his perspective on fighting has changed realizing getting in the ring is nothing compared to what he’s endured. Now, with his upcoming fight against Ryan Garcia, Conor talks about what this next chapter means to him — not just as a fighter, but as a man. He discusses redemption, purpose, mental strength, what he has learned from the darkest moments of his life, and where he sees his career and life going from here. This is more than a boxing conversation. It’s a story about falling apart, finding yourself, saving your life, and discovering what you’re truly fighting for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Before this,

• 0:05Speaker 00

  there's this.

• 0:08Speaker 00

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• 0:30Ryan Clark?

  Boxing stories normally start with the fighter. Connor Ben's story starts with his father. Nigel Ben was a legend, a former WBC champion whose success gave Connor the privilege of growing up in the best schools, biggest houses, and safest neighborhoods. So why even start boxing at 17? Uh, it's a pretty simple answer. Connor loves to fight. Now, on the precipice of one of his biggest fights, Connor sits down with us and things get real. We talk demon possession, the pressures of being a legacy kid, faith, family, fear, and ending a decades-long feud with the Eubank family. Then the conversation takes us on an emotional turn as Connor details the night he almost ended his own life.

• 1:14Ryan Clark?

  There wasn't a dry eye on set. Finally, we get into his upcoming fight with Ryan Garcia and what a win would mean to him. Connor Ben is already a star in the UK and one of the best fighters in the world. But after this sit-down, he may just become one of your favorite people. So please welcome Connor Ben to the Pivot as he sits down with me, Chan, and Freddie T.

• 1:56Ryan Clark?

  First off, Connor, man, thank you for allowing us to come here. Uh, we appreciate it. Connor Ben, 25 and 1, on the cusp of starting your United States greatness. So we're excited about that. This is Chan Crowder, Fred Teller, I'm Ryan Clark. Pivot fam, thank you for pivoting with us. I just wanted to tell people, right? We're supposed to do this before and our, uh, our producer, she was coming to tell you about yourself. So she walks over to you at Fanatics Fest, I'm running over to back her up, right? And by the time I get over there, she just looking at it in his eyes and, and telling him, "Thank you." And I'm like, "Wait, I thought we was coming over here to start some beef."

• 2:41Ryan Clark?

  I was like, she was just so nice and so kind and so charismatic. I was like, "See, you got..."

• 2:46Speaker 02

  I'll tell you that. I'll tell you that.

• 2:48Ryan Clark?

  I was like, "You got Connor Ben."

• 2:49Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, you got Bend.

• 2:51Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, but nah, man, uh, just welcome. We're excited about it.

• 2:55Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 2:56Ryan Clark?

  Talk a little bit, man, about having someone in your life who could be a hero not only as a father, but with what he was able to accomplish and following in his footsteps. What sort of pressure has that been on you?

• 3:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was a lot of pressure when I was younger. Um, I've done this too many times now for it to be a, an accident. You know, I am a fighter. Um, and it's not because I say so, but my DNA says so. Um, you know, I'm my father's son. Yeah, it comes with pressure, but it also opened doors for me that wouldn't have opened before. So, well, that comes with pressure, an immense amount of pressure to follow, uh, an icon in the sport of boxing. The doors is open for me. How can I not sit back and look and count the blessings? You know, and pressure's a privilege. You know, so I sit down and I go, "I'm obviously meant to be able to deal with it. I'm obviously meant to be able to, to cope with the pressure and the expectation from the public."

• 3:57Speaker 02

  Uh, but this was early days. This was early on in my, my, um, career where I felt the pressure. Not so much anymore. Not at all anymore.

• 4:06Ryan Clark?

  Is it true that your pops, uh, had your nose bloody and chipped your tooth the first time you stepped into the ring though?

• 4:11Speaker 02

  It was, this wasn't even in the ring. This was in the garage. Yeah, we put, we put the gloves on. You know what my dad did? My dad is a, he really is a hero.

• 4:21Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 4:21Speaker 02

  Um, and someone I look up to and idolize. He, he was firm with me. He let me know that the life I lived, which was a very privileged upbringing. Um, I ain't, I didn't come from no hardship. I didn't come from no... It was a beautiful life that I had, that my dad created for the family. But he let me know, "This is because of me. This is, you're, you're living the fruits of my labor. When you come of age, you gotta go and get it yourself." And he done, and he had a very good, um, balance in doing that. Because I think as a parent, you want to give your child everything, right? I think as a parent, you want to give your kids everything you hadn't had. My dad fully let me know that this, we are where we are because of me. You, when you come of age,

• 5:05Speaker 02

  you're gonna have to go and get it on your own.

• 5:07Ryan Clark?

  And why don't, why don't pops work with you? Because we, we talked to other boxers and all about like that, the, the Mayweather's where his uncle and everybody, like they were fighters. And...

• 5:19Speaker 02

  Trainers, too.

• 5:19Ryan Clark?

  Trainers. Why doesn't, why doesn't pops train you? Can there be two lions in the den almost? Can there be two alphas in the, in the group?

• 5:27Speaker 02

  And as crazy as it is to say, "That's exactly what it is." And growing up, I was, me and my dad were like this. Growing up as a kid, it was like, "Let me flap my wings. Let me do my own thing." You know, you hit puberty and you think you're a man and you think you know the world. And then, and then obviously, my dad's my dad. Uh, but he, my dad is alpha, alpha. So when I even had demonstrated a little bit of alpha, there was conflict. Having two, he, my dad's in my camp. My dad's been in my camp for my whole career. But we have a way of working things where my dad tells my trainer, "This is what he needs to do. This is what we need to do." And, and my trainer will articulate it to me

• 6:10Speaker 02

  in a way where it's easily digestible. Whereas when my dad tells me something, he goes, "Nah, son, just go like this. Just do that. Why aren't you doing that? I just told you to do that." And I'm like, "Just because you take me to do it don't mean I know how to do it. Like, you're Nigel Ben."

• 6:26Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 6:27Speaker 02

  So, growing up, it was like, he's going, "Just do this, watch." And it, but the, the way he, he couldn't articulate it to me as a coach would articulate it to me to help me understand what it just do is. Like, "How, I don't know what you mean." You know, 'cause not all great champions make great trainers. And able to sort of explain to me and have the patience, that's the word. He's not a very patient man. Is have the patience for me to learn and grow. There's been some things me and my trainer have done for maybe a year and a half, two years, not got it off once. And then I got it. You know, so it was, and some people just don't have that patience. But not putting it down to my dad,

• 7:12Speaker 02

  I also struggle listening to my dad when it comes down to boxing. I don't know why. He is a Hall of Famer. He is a legend. And I'm, if I'm half the fighter he was, I'd be happy. But I still can't, I still can't do it.

• 7:26Ryan Clark?

  Well, we all, we all played ball and have children who had opportunities to follow in those footsteps. And me and my son, you know, he plays football. He's with the Jets. And, oh, we were the same way.

• 7:37Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 7:38Ryan Clark?

  Right, like we, we, we had to, to learn to work through things, you know? And what helped me was that I had to get it a certain way. I wasn't extremely talented or a, a, a big person or fast. And so I had to learn. And so because of that, I could communicate it. But when you're Nigel Ben, right? And you're one of the greatest boxers of all time, you think that you can say something to somebody and they get it like you.

• 8:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, no.

• 8:04Ryan Clark?

  And, and it doesn't happen like that for everyone, especially somebody like you that like wasn't in the gym boxing at 2. Right, and so I, I could understand how you two would...

• 8:14Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was just like, "I don't, I don't get, I don't know what you're saying, dad." And then, and then what happened is, it's like, he's trying to tell me, go, it, it literally just go, "Son, look, you gotta go, uh, uh, uh. Just do it."

• 8:29Speaker 02

  What's he mean, "Just do it"?

• 8:31Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 8:31Speaker 02

  So you're expecting a, a, a guy who hasn't fought, a kid who hasn't fought, to just do it? And then, and then what happens is, is it don't end there. Then we go home. Oh, and then that's another whole different ballgame. So it's like, now it's just, my dad cares about Connor.

• 8:51Ryan Clark?

  That's awesome.

• 8:52Speaker 02

  My son. You know, without boxing, it like, "How are you, Con? How's your relationship? How's parenthood? How's life? How's your faith?" Got goosebumps 'cause boxing's a minority in my dad's, mine and my dad's relationship. My dad cares about my happiness. My dad sold all his bucks to charity. He sold everything to charity. He, he hid me away from the fame. He hid me away from the Nigel Ben, the Dark Destroyer. He was just dad. Do you know what I mean? So he, he cares more about me than anything else. Everything else is superficial, right?

• 9:33Ryan Clark?

  That's awesome.

• 9:34Fred Taylor?

  As, as a father now yourself, though, is there something that you understand differently about your father as a kid?

• 9:41Speaker 02

  The love a father can have for his son. Wanting your son to be a better man than you. Because I want my son to be the best version of me and just take the best parts of me. I don't want my son to have to go through decisions I've made. Then they say wisdom is wasted on the old, right? So it's like, my son's gonna have to go through, my two boys are gonna have to go through their own things in life. But... I just wanna install wisdom in my kids. And I think what I learned from my dad is he wanted to install the wisdom in me and just knowing what the world really is. But articulate, it all comes down to articulation, my dad, and explain it in a way where my son knows I love him.

• 10:25Speaker 02

  This is coming from a place of love, this ain't coming from anywhere else. This ain't me trying to be horrible, this isn't me trying to to stop me from enjoying yourself, but son, there's consequences to to decisions you make in life. You know, and I think it just comes from love, just let my son know it comes from love. And that's just something I really emphasize on with my kids.

• 10:48Fred Taylor?

  Your kids these days like to consider it control sometime, but it actually is love.

• 10:54Speaker 02

  It's love, it's all it is.

• 10:55Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 10:55Speaker 02

  You know, and I think my dad got it right with me, otherwise I wouldn't be where I am. How can you tell me, my dad, or not you guys, but how can someone say my dad was too firm and too this and too that? It was because of the firmness I am where I am. What Silver Spoon kid, doing the hardest sport in the world, training hard in the morning, like I've got a chip on my shoulder, running up at four in the morning when I first turned pro. Training hard, putting the work in. For what? I didn't, I didn't come from hardship, I didn't have to do it. But my dad raised me in a way where I'm able to do it and have been doing it for 10 years. I love that.

• 11:36Channing Crowder?

  And to that point, we were just talking about it where, like, I'm tough on my kid. I have a daughter, plays basketball, a son that plays baseball. They'll work out four or five times a day, two trainers, run two miles in the morning, then push the golf cart with my big ass sitting on, listening to music, like John St. Brown, Amal Ra St. Brown's dad.

• 11:56Ryan Clark?

  He's an all-pro receiver.

• 11:58Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 11:59Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, so he had, he had three kids play college football, two of them played in NFL.

• 12:04Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 12:04Channing Crowder?

  And so his phrase was built not born. Like, you honestly have the DNA because you're pops, but built not born, this wasn't, this wasn't in you when you came out the womb, you had to grind for this. How you feel about the phrase built not born?

• 12:20Speaker 02

  That's, it's giving me goosebumps again because I wasn't supposed to be here. I fight like a starving man who has like a point to prove.

• 12:34Speaker 02

  Where does that come from? You know, yeah, it's like I just, I become this version where it's like I developed this chip on my shoulder to just prove and prove and prove and be the best version that Connor Ben can be. Because you see when it's all said and done, I can look myself in the mirror and go, do you know what? I've done everything I could. I gave 110% in the bad session, in the bad days, in the days where I got to the gym and I cried. I can't do this. How many times I've cried on my trainer's shoulder? I can't handle it, I can't handle it, I can't do it. I'm struggling, and this is when I was 19, when I first moved to the UK and left my family in Australia, it was like, I can't do this, I'm struggling.

• 13:18Speaker 02

  And to cry in a boxing gym in front of loads of, loads of men, you know, he says, throw a towel in my office and throw a towel over my head in the ring and just pull me in the office and say, Connor, you can do this. You know, but you're right, it's built, it's not born, you know, I've become the one, if you look at all my other siblings, I am the only one like me.

• 13:40Speaker 02

  And I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing.

• 13:43Speaker 02

  But I am the only one like me.

• 13:46Speaker 02

  And they say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but I, you can't take out what God put in.

• 13:55Speaker 02

  And here I am.

• 14:26Ryan Clark?

  So what was it, you know, like this show, we get made fun of sometimes because we've shed tears on this show with many guests, with each other, right? Just talking about the different things that allow you to persevere through adversity. You've mentioned multiple times, you didn't have to do this. So what was it that kept you going during those times where you were an adult man crying in the gym, full of tough adult men, thinking to yourself, you can't do it?

• 14:58Speaker 02

  It's not even just crying in the gym, it's also crying at home when like, and I can go back there, where it was just like, man, maybe I'm not good enough. Maybe I can't do this, maybe like, am I trying to prove to myself that I'm of value to my dad? Am I trying to prove this, am I trying to prove that? You know, and it's like,

• 15:22Speaker 02

  I can't, I can't answer that question because I don't know what made me persevere.

• 15:28Speaker 02

  I don't know why I kept going, I don't know, on them days where it felt like maybe it would just be easier to live at home with my family in Australia in a mansion, with my siblings and my mom and my dad on the other side of the world, than be here facing persecution for not being good enough, but still doing the best I could. That's what I really struggled with, it was like, I'm doing the best I can, I've made the biggest sacrifice I could make in leaving my family in Sydney, Australia, and we're a close family. So it's not like we're a broken family, we're a close knit family, a family of faith, go to church, we pray, have Sunday dinners together, like it's a

• 16:06Ryan Clark?

  It's a real family.

• 16:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, so for me to then break that fold and leave, to then

• 16:12Speaker 02

  chase a dream and get knocked back for being, giving 110%, is like, man, maybe I'm just not good enough. You know, and I mean, the amount of times when I was younger, cried myself to sleep because I'm just like, maybe I'm just not good enough.

• 16:28Ryan Clark?

  So what happens when you lose the decision to Eubanks and there's obviously so much surrounding that fight because of your father's rivalry? You're coming off of a layoff, you lose, how much of that in those times did you draw upon so you could be prepared for the next fight to dominate?

• 16:50Speaker 02

  I didn't know I had that in me first, for the first fight. I didn't know I had that dog in me, until you have to prove it. Because you can't just go, yeah, I've got that dog, you know, and you start barking and, and, tell you, anyone can bark, but have you, you really, you really about it? You really about this life? And given my background, what's to say I am about this life?

• 17:14Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 17:15Speaker 02

  You know, I went to a Christian school my, my, my whole life. You know, I was raised in church, used to sing in the church choir, play the guitar. I'm really about this life. You know, and although I believe I am, until you've done it, you can't, you

• 17:29Ryan Clark?

  You don't know.

• 17:30Speaker 02

  You don't know. And I've been there, I've done it with a bigger guy, you know, handled the pressure, you know, 65,000 in the stadium, handled it, no problem, water for ducks back. And then not only that, I come back and avenge that loss. You know, so it's like, again, that was just, again, that mental toughness. This game's mental, it's just, I don't know why I am the way I am. I don't know how I'm wired the way I am, well, I know I am, it's my dad, but yeah, I mean, it's the obvious, but

• 18:05Speaker 02

  why did God make me like this?

• 18:09Speaker 02

  Why did God give me this

• 18:12Speaker 02

  ambition to just

• 18:16Speaker 02

  wanna prove people wrong, just wanna be the best version of myself I can be? And take myself to the depths and really challenge myself?

• 18:25Speaker 02

  Because I don't need to. I can't like, well, I just have an easy life.

• 18:31Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 18:32Speaker 02

  Could, I could do, just have an easy life. It just, just weren't good enough for me.

• 18:37Fred Taylor?

  It's something about a person that wants their own, they don't wanna cruise off the success of your father, you know. Are you familiar with the statement or the phrase, GNSL?

• 18:49Speaker 02

  No.

• 18:50Fred Taylor?

  Graph now?

• 18:51Speaker 02

  No.

• 18:52Fred Taylor?

  Shine later?

• 18:54Speaker 02

  But I'll take that.

• 18:56Fred Taylor?

  You'll take that, yeah.

• 18:56Speaker 02

  You lot dropped from today, you see my new next insta quotes, yeah?

• 19:01Speaker 02

  Built not born, and that is.

• 19:06Ryan Clark?

  He gonna take him back across the water with him.

• 19:08Fred Taylor?

  You know, I saw something, I actually was trying to study for this and I was like, Graph now, and I had to kind of look it up and I saw that kid saying, GNSL, Graph now, shine later, which is what you were talking about. But you were talking about your tattoos.

• 19:22Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 19:22Fred Taylor?

  And each one standing for something during that moment when you got them, so for that reason, you don't have any regrets.

• 19:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 19:29Fred Taylor?

  Talk about the big cross tattoo on your sternum with the outline and the inside cut out. Can you break that down for us? I thought that was great.

• 19:37Speaker 02

  The cross is my centerpiece. Like, I was raised a kid of faith, I was raised in church, and I've had my own walk with religion, I've struggled with religion. You know, I was in a, an environment where it was religion, not relationship. You know, I was told by people of power in religion, Christianity, that I had demons inside me as a kid. I needed an exorcism, which was really hard to process. Because when it comes from people with authority and power, right, you, you, you listen to them. Because they're established with God.

• 20:20Speaker 02

  And I really struggled, I always thought there was something wrong with me growing up. And I couldn't, I just, I just thought there was something wrong with me, my, growing up, my whole childhood. And

• 20:34Speaker 02

  I had my own encounter with God after all of this, but for maybe 10, 10, 15 years, I believed there was demons inside of me. It took away my innocence, took away my childhood, took away a lot from me because I'm always thinking there's something wrong with me, right? As you would. And then I counted my own relationship with God. And that wasn't, that's not the God I serve. That's not who you are. That's, I, that isn't who you are. And I had my own revelation, my own relationship with God, hence the cross is my centerpiece. Because anyone can say what they want in any position of power, I know my relationship with God is true. I know my relationship with God is, is why I'm here today.

• 21:19Speaker 02

  It's hard to look at my life and say God's hands ain't on it.

• 21:23Speaker 02

  It's impossible I look at my kids and God ain't in their lives. It's impossible I drive to my home, to my wife and look and go.

• 21:32Speaker 02

  How can you not be in this?

• 21:36Speaker 02

  That's not even talking where I am in my career.

• 21:40Speaker 02

  You know? And give me the strength and the resilience and the minerals I need to become the man I am today. In order to help other people, in order to to raise my kids to be young men of faith who change the world, who are trailblazers for God. You know, and it's it's it's been a journey to get to where I am to now, but Christ has always remained remained in my centerpiece. He's always been there. Through the thick of it, through the bad times, through the times I've cried. I mean, he's the only one that that's carried me through all of this, right? Through the noise, through the adversity, the controversy.

• 22:14Speaker 02

  That's why I'm where I am now, sitting here.

• 22:17Ryan Clark?

  When you're 12 years old and you're told that though, I think it was through school, right? Through Christian school?

• 22:22Speaker 02

  My school, my church were one.

• 22:23Ryan Clark?

  Okay, there's one, when you're that age and you're told you're demon possessed, but you're also a part of a family where faith is important. Right? How difficult was that to deal with and who allowed you or who helped you through that process?

• 22:42Speaker 02

  They didn't. I was angry. I was angry.

• 22:47Speaker 02

  I was angry, yeah.

• 22:50Speaker 02

  I was angry, I was broken. I was, um, yeah, it was, I'm a kid. I'm a kid. I look at my son and I go, how can anyone tell my son

• 23:02Speaker 02

  that he's he's got demons in him? How?

• 23:07Speaker 02

  You know, so for me, it's like I just couldn't understand it. And then as you get older, again, you go through things in life and then you understand that people just abuse their position of power. So you're telling me God told you I've got demons in me?

• 23:23Speaker 02

  But you believe it, don't you? You're a kid, you're naive. You know, so listen, all of that in my life has brought me to where I am now. And how not to be, what sort of person not to be, who to be. You know, and and one thing I can say again is that my relationship with God is is paramount, it's everything. Aside from all the noise, aside from boxing in life, where it really matters, God is my peace. You know, and yeah, it was challenging growing up as a kid. It's hard to understand the process, but

• 24:03Speaker 02

  why? I will never know why. But what I can say is I know God was in control even then.

• 24:10Channing Crowder?

  You brought up that experience that's tell me what that experience was, because I have I have some of mine. Where I crashed my truck and the engine flew out, I hit a palm tree and the engine flew into the passenger seat and not the driver's seat. If it turns to the driver's seat, I'd be I'd be in a wheelchair right now. And like I have, if we really look back, I think all of us have those experiences. You brought up the experience you had when you said God is real. Can you elaborate on that first experience when you were like, oh, no, no, no, this isn't this isn't just a book, this is serious?

• 24:42Speaker 02

  It's it's not just a specific moment. It's when you, when I look back. It's when I look at God in the small things. It's there's not a specific moment where I go

• 24:56Speaker 02

  oh, wow, you revealed yourself to me then. He reveals himself to me all the time. But it's just whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. You know, so for me, yes, there has been things like that, like I've had really bad injuries, I've had this, I've had that. But there's certain things in my life that have happened where I'm like you can't say it's not God. The chances are a million to one.

• 25:23Speaker 02

  You're telling me what that's if me just going to a million to one odds, are you gonna bet on it? I'm not the number betting man, but

• 25:31Ryan Clark?

  I'm not.

• 25:31Speaker 02

  No, I'm not betting man, but you know what a million to one is?

• 25:33Channing Crowder?

  I'm a betting man, I'm not going.

• 25:35Speaker 02

  You know, million to one, that's right? Would you bet a million to one on your life?

• 25:39Channing Crowder?

  No.

• 25:39Ryan Clark?

  No.

• 25:40Speaker 02

  There's been a million to one times where my life's been on the line. And it's like, only that it makes sense. And it's happened too many times for me to sit here and ignore it and be ignorant. It's too many times for me to sit here and go, do you know what you ain't like? Oh, it's just it's just life. It's just, you know, it just happens. You know, oh, you're lucky. Oh, you're, nah, nah, there ain't no luck here. This ain't this ain't luck, because I've been very unlucky at times as well, but it's all part of God's plan.

• 26:12Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, but no, you asked about the tattoo, Freddie.

• 26:14Speaker 02

  So you might.

• 26:15Channing Crowder?

  You see this no fear?

• 26:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 26:17Channing Crowder?

  That was 11:45 at night, I was drunk.

• 26:21Speaker 02

  That's how much, that's how much you call.

• 26:22Channing Crowder?

  I regret that one.

• 26:24Speaker 02

  You regret that one?

• 26:25Channing Crowder?

  This is so goddamn silly. It's like a stripper tattoo.

• 26:28Speaker 02

  No, you can't, no, so, no, I don't know, because I've got a thing with fear. So on my neck, I've got fear is a lie.

• 26:35Ryan Clark?

  You got a fear of God tattoo too, right, Stuart?

• 26:36Speaker 02

  I've got fear, fear God, but the good fear.

• 26:39Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 26:39Speaker 02

  You know, like the respect for God, like God is all powerful. Yeah, it's not like, oh, let me tremble on my knees and fear God, it's like have the respect for God that he deserves. But fear is a lie. False evidence appearing real, fear. How many things fear cripple people? Cripple people into not achieving their full potential. Let fear hold them back. You know, if something that ain't even there, it's not even real. So when you say no fear, I know you say, yeah, it's one of them tattoos.

• 27:11Channing Crowder?

  That was Hennessy.

• 27:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 27:15Speaker 02

  You say you say it's one of them tattoos.

• 27:17Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 27:17Speaker 02

  But how many people do we talk to day to day? Whether it be athletes or people, you see a lot of potential in let fear hold them back. Because fear can cripple you. Fear can, if I had let fear stop me from leaving my family home in Sydney, I would not be sitting here. If I'd let fear hold me back from trying to achieve greatness, I won't be where I am. That's just fear, none of it's even real.

• 27:41Ryan Clark?

  So you've never had a fear of failure?

• 27:44Speaker 02

  I fear spiders.

• 27:46Ryan Clark?

  Well, you should. They had a dog in here early, I was scared of him the whole time.

• 27:50Speaker 02

  Oh, you didn't even say nothing?

• 27:51Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, because I was just trying to be tough.

• 27:52Speaker 02

  Trying to be cool?

• 27:53Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, but I didn't like it. Hey, y'all don't know if you noticed. It's a big dog as well. Hey, I watched him the whole time and at one point he was right there, I just sat down so I knew I could, if I had to move on him. But when you have expectations based on DNA, genetics, history.

• 28:12Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:13Ryan Clark?

  There becomes expectation that you can be the same thing.

• 28:18Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:19Ryan Clark?

  But that doesn't mean that it's necessarily true. There's a ton of all time greats who don't have all time great children in the same field that they were. Was there ever a fear of failing?

• 28:31Speaker 02

  Of course, there was a fear of failing. You think every time I get in the ring, there's a chance you get knocked out, right?

• 28:36Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 28:36Speaker 02

  Because no one goes into a fight planning to get knocked out, do they?

• 28:39Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 28:40Speaker 02

  You know, do I really want to get knocked out? Do I really want to, um, face that fear? Of course, there is a fear, but has it happened? Well, then it's false evidence appearing real.

• 28:52Ryan Clark?

  Wow.

• 28:53Speaker 02

  It's not real then, is it?

• 28:54Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 28:55Speaker 02

  So so the fear is in my head. It's not real. Because it hasn't happened. So I know what you're

• 29:04Ryan Clark?

  It's possible, little Connor, like it's not.

• 29:06Speaker 02

  It's possible for me to walk outside and get hit by a car.

• 29:10Ryan Clark?

  That's why you look both ways.

• 29:13Speaker 02

  That's why I trained hard. That's true. I'm still looking the wrong way now.

• 29:18Fred Taylor?

  It's that part, it's the training. It's becoming comfortable in that, you know, and not being afraid.

• 29:24Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:25Fred Taylor?

  You know, we have butterflies before a game. And as soon as the ball kicked off.

• 29:29Speaker 02

  More than butterflies.

• 29:30Fred Taylor?

  It disappears.

• 29:32Speaker 02

  It's more than butterflies, I've got to say, like, it's definitely, it's nerves. It's nerves. Unless you say butterflies are maybe like a soft version, like butterflies could be like you see the girl you fancy. Whereas, do you know what I mean? Whereas nerves are like, they keep you like on like you're nervous, do you know what I mean? But nervous because I want to be the best version of me on the night. I don't want to let myself down. Not out of losing. Because I feel like sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. That's life. You can't you can't escape that when you when you're trying to achieve greatness. Losing is part of the process. It's part of where you find out who you are. I lost the first fight to Eubank.

• 30:16Speaker 02

  And I struggled accepting it. It was it was hard. I can't let him win the second. I can't let him win the second, because then he really is a better fighter than me. And then that's a loss. I would classify that as a loss. You know, so for me, it was like yeah, I get the nerves, yeah, I get the I can't call it fear.

• 30:40Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 30:41Speaker 02

  But yeah, obviously, when you're trying to achieve greatness, you you there has to be an element of fear, obviously, but it's not real.

• 30:49Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, but I might think when you when you dare to be great and like you talked about the the fear that holds people back. Daring to be great puts you in position to fail. But like you say, you fall back on your training and the preparation to get there. You made the move to Zuffa.

• 31:08Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 31:08Ryan Clark?

  And you know, you're now with Dana White. We sat with him twice, right? And he has sort of this bullish belief in the things he believes in. Right, that that are unshakable. Have you had any conversations or interactions with him that you've taken from Dana as you move forward that you think have been beneficial?

• 31:31Speaker 02

  Not much, but he would have gone through the exact same process as the athletes in terms of what he's building, the vision, the vision he has. Changing the landscape of boxing, changing boxing. You know, you think what he's done with the UFC, bullied it from the ground up. A lot of people go, nah, you can't do that. You can't do this with boxing. You can't do that. All right, cool, watch me.

• 31:55Speaker 02

  Watch me. And he has the same sort of driver fighter has, all right, cool. Has that chip on his shoulder to prove that, no, watch, I can do it. Maybe you can't do it, because that's your mentality. I can do it. You can't, don't project your fear on me.

• 32:10Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 32:11Speaker 02

  I'll do it myself. I've done it before, I'll do it again. And that's that's a fighter's mentality. You know, boxing and fighting ain't just in the ring. It's life. The same principles that you apply to winning a fight. It's life.

• 32:28Ryan Clark?

  Apply to winning a life?

• 32:29Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's the same, it's the same minerals. It's the same concept. You know, so no doubt, it's the same there.

• 32:35Fred Taylor?

  A moment ago, we were talking about betting odds and fear. This is my mindset and fear. But the betting odds say you're the underdog. How does?

• 32:45Ryan Clark?

  Against Garcia.

• 32:46Fred Taylor?

  Against Ryan, right? How does being considered or wearing the underdog tag alter your mindset, if at all, when you're looking across the ring at Ryan?

• 32:58Speaker 02

  I always train with underdog mentality. Because the minute you don't train with the underdog mentality is the minute you mess up. It's the minute you have a banana skin and you, you, you, you know, you fall. It's the minute you overlook somebody. Each fight, a warm-up fight, say. I want a warm-up fight to look like a warm-up fight. I want a tune-up to look like a tune-up. I want, so I'm gonna prepare just as hard because he asked my world title shot. Because any fight you lose takes you, takes you five steps back, 10 steps back from winning that world title. So I prepare diligently for each person I fight. Anyone I face, I've always given 110%. Because all it takes is one.

• 33:40Speaker 02

  One punch in 10 years can, you know, can derail you. You know, so you always, that's just my mentality.

• 33:47Fred Taylor?

  Correct.

• 33:48Speaker 02

  Not everyone has that mentality.

• 33:50Fred Taylor?

  Is there more sentimental value in chasing the WBC welterweight belt? Considering that's the belt that your father done throughout the top of his?

• 34:00Speaker 02

  Yeah, there is. It's everything I've wanted to fight for when I was a young kid. When I, well, when I first turned pro, so 10 years ago, it's been 10 years to this year I've been in the game. 10 years of applying myself. A lot of tears, a lot of blood, a lot of doubt, a lot of fear when I was younger. And I say when I was younger because as you get older, you learn to realize that it's false evidence appearing real. You just do the work, do the best you can. And you see when Conor Ben, when his career is said and done. I can look myself in the mirror and go, I've done everything in my power. I've done everything I could to be the best version of myself Conor Ben can be.

• 34:46Speaker 02

  What more can you ask for?

• 35:19Channing Crowder?

  Talking about fear, there's a saying, it's a terrible Will Smith movie with his son. What was that movie with his son?

• 35:25Ryan Clark?

  Pursuit of Happiness.

• 35:26Channing Crowder?

  No, no, no, no, when they're running, they're running through the, through a desert with crazy animals.

• 35:32Ryan Clark?

  Oh, I don't remember that one.

• 35:34Speaker 02

  Oh, I know one you're talking about, Pa, I don't know it.

• 35:36Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, so, but he said to his son, but he was paralyzed and his son had to go find the other ship, whatever. And he said, quote, "Fear is fake, danger is real." He was there there too.

• 35:47Ryan Clark?

  That, that is a great quote.

• 35:48Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, fear is fake, that's, fear is all in your mind.

• 35:51Speaker 02

  It's in your head.

• 35:51Channing Crowder?

  If you see an alligator in the water, you jump on top, you gonna get your ass bit. Yeah, like, that's danger. Fear is up here.

• 35:58Speaker 02

  But that, the fear of that crocodile or alligator escaping and, and getting you, that's what it's, it's in your head. So you can fear it, but it ain't real.

• 36:08Channing Crowder?

  But I would say about the fight though, you can box your ass off, but Garcia be throwing them things.

• 36:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, so will I.

• 36:19Ryan Clark?

  So I'm still a fighter.

• 36:20Channing Crowder?

  I know, no, no, I'm just saying, like, like, you have, you have boxers that wanna box and you have boxers that wanna knock people out. He's one of those dudes. Do you ever change your approach to a boxer and a?

• 36:31Speaker 02

  Well, what dude do you think, what dude do you think I am?

• 36:33Channing Crowder?

  You, you like to, you like to put hands on people too.

• 36:36Speaker 02

  Well, then we'll see then, because maybe the fight won't go past four rounds, but we're gonna have a shootout. Maybe, you know, we'll, we'll see who lands first. We'll, we'll, I'll meet you in the middle. That's my mindset and that's what I'm preparing for. Is it fear? No, like, I look at Garcia and what I've been through. When you're on the brink of suicide and you have to look yourself in the mirror and you've almost taken your own life. That's, that's scary. That's a scary, scary, scary place to be and a really dark place, that's fear. That's, that's scary, being that bad. What's another man gonna do to me? What, you think I'm worried about you? What can you do to me?

• 37:20Speaker 02

  You know, and that's, that's where my head goes. I've been in a dark way, I've been in a dark place. Where it's, I almost wasn't here today.

• 37:30Speaker 02

  You know, where my kids almost didn't have a dad. That's fear.

• 37:36Speaker 02

  You know, so what, what, you think I'm looking, I'm looking at Ryan, getting, I'm worried about his left hook?

• 37:43Ryan Clark?

  I don't lie, I'm glad you weren't looking at me when you said that, that just scared the piss out of me.

• 37:47Channing Crowder?

  See, I put my foot in the ground, cause I ain't, I ain't know if he was gonna get up.

• 37:51Speaker 02

  It's, it's, it's a fight. Like, it's a fight. I got a couple bruises.

• 37:56Ryan Clark?

  Fighter's fight.

• 37:57Speaker 02

  You have a cut eye, you have a broken nose, you have a broken jaw. Alright, cool, like, it's a, it's a fight. It's when you, when you're really going through something and you see no way out and there's no hope. And you have, you've lost your faith, that's the scary place to be in.

• 38:16Ryan Clark?

  Can you take me to that place though, Connor? Because we talked about your upbringing, your incredible faith, fear is a lie. So to be in a place, a man of faith, where you understand what taking your life would mean. I can't imagine the darkness. Can you take me back to that moment?

• 38:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was, it was horrific. Yeah, it was, it was, how could I, how could I get so bad? How could I be in such a bad way in my life where I just couldn't handle life? I just couldn't handle what was going on, I couldn't accept it, I struggled. I felt humiliation on my family, I felt, I felt sorry for my son that I'm his dad. I couldn't even look my son in the face. I couldn't even go to the boxing gym. I couldn't even, the thought of waking up the next day. I couldn't bear the thought, the thought of waking up to the same reality I was living.

• 39:15Speaker 02

  And when your faith lets you, when you feel like your faith lets you down, that's when, that's when it all comes to an end. You know, and, yeah, I, I almost took my life. I mean, it was maybe 2, 3 in the morning and I walked over to a bridge.

• 39:59Speaker 02

  It's a real dark time in my life.

• 40:02Speaker 02

  Sorry. Where I've got my kids at home in bed. And when you think your life just, their life's better without yours, isn't it?

• 40:15Speaker 02

  It's a, it's a bad place to be in, you know, so.

• 40:22Speaker 02

  I, I was on the phone to my mom.

• 40:31Speaker 02

  I think, I just, maybe it's worth this topic. I was in a bad way. No one could save me. I had to save myself and, oh man. And, and got into it. And I walked back home.

• 40:54Speaker 02

  And I got back in bed, I cried myself to sleep. I just, God help me.

• 41:01Speaker 02

  And I think when you're on the verge of jumping, you, you really, really evaluate life. I was shaking the whole way home. Couldn't believe I was about to end it.

• 41:15Fred Taylor?

  Connor, you don't have to ever say sorry about these things, man. We, we, we, we respect you and we understand. And we thank God that you didn't complete suicide.

• 41:31Fred Taylor?

  As a father, I've had to deal with it and I won't really go into it much. But to see the innocence and even the thought that gets you so close to it, it, it breaks my heart, so I can only imagine.

• 41:46Fred Taylor?

  What I wanna ask you is, you've, you've fought a ton of brutal fights and pushed through. What made you

• 41:58Fred Taylor?

  move forward and fight for your own life?

• 42:04Speaker 02

  Ken, I can't answer that.

• 42:10Speaker 02

  I'm sad, but I'll take my life.

• 42:17Speaker 02

  I was adamant when I walked to that bridge, I wasn't coming home.

• 42:23Speaker 02

  My mum had called me a few weeks earlier and said, "Son, go show me a sign that you're gonna be okay.

• 42:36Speaker 02

  You're gonna be okay." And in Australia, they have kangaroos. Anyway, my mum said, "Go show me a deer that you're gonna be okay. Like, just go give me that as a sign." As I've gone to jump over the bridge, I looked in the motorway and there was a deer.

• 42:56Speaker 02

  While I was on the phone to my mum. And, um,

• 43:04Speaker 02

  and that was when I walked home. Was the deer doing it in the motorway?

• 43:10Ryan Clark?

  No.

• 43:11Speaker 02

  And, um,

• 43:14Speaker 02

  and that's what, that's what stopped me from jumping. So, um, and then, and then you sort of then just go, "God, like, if I'm gonna, I need your help. If I'm gonna do this, I need your help. I can't do this on my own. I'm struggling here." And, um, and obviously I made it through. I had my, my daughter since then.

• 43:37Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 43:38Speaker 02

  And I've had my son since then. Um, and my son's name is Hart, which means deer, stag. I just look at what I went through and I'm obviously strong enough to withstand what was going on at the time. And I couldn't even go to the gym at this stage. And, um,

• 44:00Speaker 02

  when I got to the gym, I cried. I cried. They were just getting to the gym. Just getting to the gym. I tried to wrap my hands, spent twenty minutes wrapping my hands. As soon as I started shadow boxing, the first round, I started crying and walked out of the gym. They was getting to the gym.

• 44:17Ryan Clark?

  Yep.

• 44:19Speaker 02

  And it's all really special to me. He told me, you know, each day it gets easier. Each day it gets easier. I've really struggled. It was such a dark time. So then we're talking about, you know, fighting another man.

• 44:37Speaker 02

  Were you, what you, do you know what I'm trying to say?

• 44:39Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 44:40Speaker 02

  So you see the pain and you see the hurt and you see how, and this is like two years ago. And I can still feel, I can still feel the low hope. I can still feel about to jump. I can still feel the shame walking home, knowing I've got a son at home.

• 44:59Speaker 02

  And I was, I just weren't strong enough. I could feel that feeling weak. I could feel like I just, nothing I could do. So when we're talking about a, a, a physical fight, another man, you think I'm worried? It could be seven foot tall, packed with muscle. You think I care? What could you do to me that I wasn't gonna do myself?

• 45:21Ryan Clark?

  When you were, you know, when you said that to Channing, two things went through my head. Uh, it felt like I was listening to a Jason Statham movie. Right? Cause I was like, I was like, that sounds like something he say where he put hands on people. Uh, but it was also the things that have built you up to this point.

• 45:40Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:40Ryan Clark?

  There is, at least in my opinion, no shame in thinking what you thought, in feeling what you felt. You know, I have three adult kids. I couldn't imagine the pain I would feel if I felt like their lives would be better if I wasn't there. Right? And so there's no shame in the love that brought you back home and the way you've continued to live your life. When I was eighteen, one of my closest friends completed suicide. And, you know, we've had to make decisions and I've thought about making decisions that would honor him. Man, you get to honor yourself,

• 46:20Ryan Clark?

  your parents, your children, your fans, every day you continue to live because you made a decision to walk home. Like, never think about what you went through and not understand or not celebrate the fact that you walked home, bro. That you got in bed at your house, that your kids still get to see you. Like, that's important, bro.

• 46:44Speaker 02

  The enemy works in weird ways. So when I'm walking home, I feel nothing but shame and guilt that I even thought about doing it.

• 46:51Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 46:52Speaker 02

  That's just the attacks from the enemy. That's, that's, it's not from God. And it really is, two of my kids wouldn't have been born. I wouldn't have been the person I am now. I wouldn't have, I wouldn't be headlining in Vegas for the WBC World Title. I wouldn't have headlined two stadium shows in a fight of the year. I wouldn't have, so all of this is, I enjoy because at one stage it was looking like,

• 47:17Ryan Clark?

  It wasn't gonna happen.

• 47:17Speaker 02

  I wasn't even gonna be here. So I go back, it goes back to that. That

• 47:25Speaker 02

  fear factor, it's not, it's not real. It goes, but every day gets easier. Whatever you're going through, how bad it, think about, you're looking at me now, you go, "I could have never have got there" based on how I am now. How bad must it have been for me to be that version of myself? So I think I'm strong. I'm not strong. I'm not like this macho alpha male man.

• 47:49Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 47:50Speaker 02

  Do you know what I mean? Don't look at it superficial. You know?

• 47:55Speaker 02

  In your darkest times, trust me, there's a way out. And each day gets easier. You just have to persevere and be strong enough to keep fighting. The hardest fight is life. What, you've jumped in the ring for thirty-six minutes with Ryan? It's thirty-six minutes.

• 48:14Speaker 02

  Thirty-six minutes in a whole day is not a lot. Let alone thirty-six minutes be your whole life.

• 48:19Ryan Clark?

  I wanna ask a question about facing Ryan. Uh, we were talking earlier to your team and, uh, you know, I made the joke early on how, you know, your charisma, your looks, all of those things took us from, we thinking we about to have to jump Connor Ben, to all of a sudden, she was willing, our producers willing to throw us away and put you on the show by yourself. Um, but, you know, we were talking about Buddy Crawford and how great of a fighter he was, but he didn't really get the stardom until the Errol Spence fight.

• 48:50Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 48:50Ryan Clark?

  And you see this all the time. You know, you've conquered, you know, England, right? And, and they know you in the UK. This is an entirely different audience that you'll be introduced to by fighting Ryan Garcia, one of the most popular fighters in the United States. You got the blonde hair and the braids, you got the, the tats. You like fashion, you got the look. You are primed for stardom in our country. And you have the fight now to do that. How do you separate all of those things and knowing all those things to be truly focused on this?

• 49:30Speaker 02

  Well, that's all just pressure. So everything you've just said is pressure. I've dealt with pressure already from a young age. Twenty amateur bouts, um, twenty-two, twenty-three amateur fights in the shed in Australia, all of them. I've come to London bearing my dad's Nigel Benn. My first fight back was, um, at O2 Arena. Nineteen thousand people. That was my debut.

• 49:59Ryan Clark?

  I've been there.

• 50:00Speaker 02

  Yeah, so when you talk about pressure,

• 50:04Speaker 02

  that's pressure. Living up to your dad's expectation with no amateur experience. Having to deal with that every fight, each fight on fight. Having to go up to one sixty to fight a long time family feud, thirty years worth of beef.

• 50:20Speaker 02

  Do you know what I mean? That's, that's pressure. In front of my, in front of my nation, felt like the whole, the whole country come to a standstill.

• 50:28Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 50:30Speaker 02

  And even now, the, the intensity, the drama, the theatrics and the magnitude of that fight in London, in England, was like no other. You know, and then to then have to do that, again, jumping up two weights heavier to then put on a fight of the year. That's, that's pressure and live up to the talk as well.

• 50:55Channing Crowder?

  What's the difference in fighting in the US versus England? Cause you, you have two fights over here already.

• 51:01Speaker 02

  I've had.

• 51:02Channing Crowder?

  Three?

• 51:03Speaker 02

  Uh, four.

• 51:05Channing Crowder?

  Four here?

• 51:05Speaker 02

  Early on in my career. I've had two early on in my career, I believe, and then two.

• 51:10Channing Crowder?

  Is, is there a big difference? Cause it seems as if like even, um, I'm thinking about the big boy that just broke, uh, White Boy's jaw. Anthony Joshua, he like, he doesn't fight, he didn't wanna, like, he fought a lot in England and then came over. What, is there a big difference that come across the pond?

• 51:26Speaker 02

  No. I mean, listen, a ring's a ring. You know, you know, it doesn't make any difference to me where it is. You know, um, ultimately, yeah, a boxing ring's a boxing ring. There could be Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse sitting ringside. You're so, you're so locked in.

• 51:42Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 51:42Speaker 02

  That like, put me anywhere where there's, you know.

• 51:45Ryan Clark?

  But Connor, it's not the same though, because I don't know how much social media you're on.

• 51:49Speaker 02

  I don't have social media.

• 51:50Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, cause it was like a million women discovered that Anthony Joshua was, was actually alive that day.

• 51:56Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 51:57Ryan Clark?

  Right? He's fighting Jake Paul. He's not fighting Ryan Garcia for the WBC. It was, it put him on the map here in our country in a way that fighting in the UK a million times could never do. You have an opportunity to become, in my opinion, a superstar here. Does that even matter to you?

• 52:20Speaker 02

  Yeah, I don't feel no pressure, no. I, I don't feel no pressure.

• 52:24Ryan Clark?

  No, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not saying the pressure, does, do, do you?

• 52:27Speaker 02

  Does it matter? Does it matter? I wanna, see, I don't look at all of that. I don't look at, "Oh, I wanna be a superstar." I don't look at, "Oh, I wanna be this" or "I wanna, I wanna put on one hell of a fight." I wanna go in there knowing that I've locked in. I put my body through hell. I've given a hundred and ten percent and I'll win that world title. See all the other stuff.

• 52:47Ryan Clark?

  Just other stuff?

• 52:48Speaker 02

  It's just the other stuff.

• 52:49Ryan Clark?

  Gotcha.

• 52:50Speaker 02

  Like, like, it's just the other stuff. I'm, I'm not here to be an influencer or a, or a superstar. I'm here to be one hell of a fighter. And you see when kids get older, they go, "I remember watching you fight. I sat down with my family. We watched it early hours in the morning." And they remember how my fight made them feel.

• 53:15Speaker 02

  Do you know what I'm trying to say?

• 53:16Fred Taylor?

  Yes.

• 53:16Speaker 02

  I see some kids come to my dad and go, "I used to watch you fight with my dad. My dad's not here no more, but we used to sit down and watch your fight together." And we used to order fish and chips and we... And you can see them go back to that moment. That's my blessings, people.

• 53:30Fred Taylor?

  I love that. They talk about you like Arsenal, Chelsea or Tottenham.

• 53:35Speaker 02

  Do you know what I'm trying to say?

• 53:36Fred Taylor?

  Right. Your biggest pivot in life, we always ask our guests, is that moment you can look back on and say, because it's happened to me or for me, I am who I am today.

• 53:45Speaker 02

  The biggest pivot in my life would probably have to be going sober. That for me was a big part of my life. Whereas I went through my case that was going on. It was... It was, "God, I need your help." And it was sort of as in, "Well, what are you doing in order to help yourself?" And it was, and that was the best decision I made. That was a pivotal moment in my career. Pivotal moment, sorry, forget the career. Pivotal moment in my life. As a dad, as a partner, as me being the best version of myself I can be and making better decisions.

• 54:29Speaker 02

  I'd probably say the court case I went through was the best thing that ever happened to me in my life. And it's crazy to say because it almost killed me.

• 54:38Ryan Clark?

  Two years though, man.

• 54:39Speaker 02

  It almost killed me. But then in the same breath, I can sit down here and say to you guys that that was the biggest blessing in my life. How crazy is that?

• 54:51Ryan Clark?

  It's wild.

• 54:51Speaker 02

  So I'm just saying, I haven't said that before, but the biggest blessing in my life at one stage almost took my life. And that's what changed me. My court case changed me. From a long-term life of pain, my court case has given my kids the best version of me, the best dad they can be, the people of the best fighter I can be. My wife has the best version of me. My dad, my mom have the best son they can have. You know, so... And all of this, all goes beyond boxing. I'm not even talking boxing. What's boxing, 10 years of someone's life? 15 years? I'm talking about life. Waking up in the morning. I'm talking about waking up every day.

• 55:36Speaker 02

  And what version of you are you? Because everyone can lock in for 12 weeks, 8 weeks, 10 weeks. What about the rest of the year? That's where the real fight happens. That's where real life happens. That's when you have to fight yourself up here every day to make that beautiful place to live. Make it beautiful up there. Live there every day.

• 55:56Ryan Clark?

  Wow. Nah, man, this was... Nah, this is crazy, man. Thank you, thank you so much for your time, your openness, man, being vulnerable enough to share those stories.

• 56:07Speaker 02

  Still can't believe you had me sobbing though, like a little kid.

• 56:09Ryan Clark?

  I told you at the beginning, we cried though.

• 56:10Speaker 02

  I know, I know, but it takes someone, it takes someone to bring you out of you. And I'm blaming you for that. I'm ugly crying on here because of you.

• 56:18Ryan Clark?

  Hey, man, it's gonna be great though. People are gonna be like, "Look at this. He's a great fighter, a man that goes in the ring, and he has a softer side." I'm telling you, man, it's gonna be perfect. It's gonna be perfect for your image. I promise. But I do want to say, man, you've now just made this fight, we're gonna be there to support. You've made this fight so much harder to watch. I was telling your team before, I hate when we sit with somebody before a fight, we realize how much we like them and then we gotta go watch them get punched in the face.

• 56:47Speaker 02

  Hopefully I don't get punched in the face too much.

• 56:48Ryan Clark?

  So what I'm saying is, please go win, man. Not even for you, for me.

• 56:53Channing Crowder?

  He said he knew how to punch you.

• 56:55Ryan Clark?

  Appreciate you, bro. And that was amazing, man.

• 56:58Channing Crowder?

  That was awesome. I appreciate you.

• 57:00Ryan Clark?

  Hey, Chan, nah, you know, I hate that, man.

• 57:02Fred Taylor?

  So the quote is, "Make this a beautiful place to live."

• 57:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 57:06Ryan Clark?

  We still in that one too.

• 57:07Fred Taylor?

  We still in that. So we'll give you two for that one.

• 57:09Speaker 02

  We live there every day.

• 57:11Ryan Clark?

  I'm gonna put that on a t-shirt. Hey, I put the pivot in there. Counterbending. What was your one though?

• 57:19Fred Taylor?

  What did I say?

• 57:20Ryan Clark?

  Graph now.

• 57:21Fred Taylor?

  GNSL. Graph now, shine later. London slang, graph. Yeah, we say grind, graph, so it's the same thing.

• 57:29Ryan Clark?

  For a little walk. Yeah. And that be hard.

• 57:33Channing Crowder?

  I'm a roulette player.

• 57:35Speaker 02

  What were you saying?

• 57:36Channing Crowder?

  11.

• 57:38Speaker 02

  You're going 11?

• 57:39Channing Crowder?

  11.

• 57:40Speaker 02

  I've got black.

• 57:41Channing Crowder?

  You're going black?

• 57:42Speaker 02

  I've got black.

• 57:44Channing Crowder?

  You have a motherfucking roulette wheel on your watch. Boy, I need more money.

• 57:49Speaker 02

  You're going 11.

• 57:50Channing Crowder?

  11.

• 57:54Channing Crowder?

  Alright, both right.

• 58:23Speaker 00

  Before this, there's this. As you celebrate the game, take a deeper look at its roots. The people growing the grass, paving the lots, welding the goalposts, inspecting every football. The hard-working people that make every Sunday possible. Carhartt is proud to outfit the crews behind the game. Visit carhartt.com/jointhetrades to learn more.